BBKA Forum

British Beekeepers Association Official Forum 

  • BBKA and bee imports

  • Please Ensure all sale of bees are checked & sold within the correct guidelines, State the location, Type and package/nuc/hive
Please Ensure all sale of bees are checked & sold within the correct guidelines, State the location, Type and package/nuc/hive
 #10661  by Alfred
 25 Apr 2021, 17:27
Sue Nigel speaks absolute gold there.
I started with some absolute monsters which arrived as local swarms - its a wonder im still alive let alone still beekeeping
 #10662  by SuesBees
 25 Apr 2021, 17:36
Thanks Alfred. Good to know I've got friends on the forum! :D
 #10664  by Bobbysbees
 25 Apr 2021, 21:25
Hi Sue, My second nuc came from Bee Equipment (just started last year with a Nuc from County Durham) and
The BE ones built up nicely when i got them in June and filled out 2 deep boxes before winter. They weren't too bad
on a single deep and a super but a double deep brood box of them are a bit of a handful , to the point where Im looking to requeen them this year cause they follow you back to the house.
That said when they were in a single deep they were no trouble. So its swings and round abouts. Environmental factors such as pests, availability of forage, proximity to other hive and weather aswell as the time of day you inspect them can all affect temperament.
But don't let it put you off its a learning curve and the people on this forum are always willing to offer advice.
So good luck and try to enjoy it lol
I had never been stung by a bee till the day I picked up my first nuc.
The little sod got me right on the eyebrow (face stings hurt btw) when we were chatting in the garden.
I still payed the guy for them and iv made my first split this year and am keenly awaiting my next nuc from BE.

.........sometimes i wonder whether or not that first sting caused minor brain damage though cause ever since then I have remodeled my whole garden, built a shed to store equipment in , spent more money than I care to admit and been stung a few more time. Yet I still want more :lol:
 #10670  by NigelP
 26 Apr 2021, 08:28
I think you have identified a good point there Bobby. Often smaller colonies like nucs and small hives are rarely a problem. It's as the bee numbers expand that their true nature becomes apparent.
If you have a bad tempered nuc/small hive best to act early.
Followers are the worst, particularly if they are in your garden. I'm fortunate that I have a few apiary sites and can move any problem hives to my "bad girl" apiary. I have a lot of requeening to do this year :)
 #10671  by SuesBees
 26 Apr 2021, 09:28
Hi Bobby
It's good to hear the BE bees were good. Hope the brain recovers, although I'm sure the remodeled garden looks super!
 #10673  by AdamD
 26 Apr 2021, 12:02
I've had a lot of calls - local bees are in short supply.
If the imports from Italy - via N Ireland, I assume - are going to be a long time, then it could be possible to obtain a nuc from a local beekeeper with a local 2021 queen as they become available.
As Nigel says, local bees are variable. Followers are not allowed in my apiary and the queen goes as soon as she is identified as the culprit. (I have too many bees, so it's easy to deal with the problem).

I have been asked to collect swarms that turn out to be badly behaved, just rubbish, or as last year, really quite nice. One of last years was so good that I grafted a couple of queens from her - they seem to be good so far so we'll see how they go as the season progresses as they might not want to stay in the box and want to swarm as soon as the OSR starts to yield.
 #10674  by AdamD
 26 Apr 2021, 12:13
Bobbysbees wrote:
25 Apr 2021, 21:25
Hi Sue, My second nuc came from Bee Equipment (just started last year with a Nuc from County Durham) and
The BE ones built up nicely when i got them in June and filled out 2 deep boxes before winter. They weren't too bad
on a single deep and a super but a double deep brood box of them are a bit of a handful , to the point where Im looking to requeen them this year cause they follow you back to the house.
That said when they were in a single deep they were no trouble. So its swings and round abouts. Environmental factors such as pests, availability of forage, proximity to other hive and weather aswell as the time of day you inspect them can all affect temperament.
But don't let it put you off its a learning curve and the people on this forum are always willing to offer advice.
So good luck and try to enjoy it lol
I had never been stung by a bee till the day I picked up my first nuc.
The little sod got me right on the eyebrow (face stings hurt btw) when we were chatting in the garden.
I still payed the guy for them and iv made my first split this year and am keenly awaiting my next nuc from BE.

.........sometimes i wonder whether or not that first sting caused minor brain damage though cause ever since then I have remodeled my whole garden, built a shed to store equipment in , spent more money than I care to admit and been stung a few more time. Yet I still want more :lol:
It seems that now your BE queen produces followers; :( I wonder if they started off OK as the bees were from a different queen? It takes a while for the queen's true behaviour to appear - 3 weeks from first egg-laying as brood and then another 2-3 weeks or so before the bees mature to become guard bees as their organs develop?
 #10690  by Bobbysbees
 27 Apr 2021, 19:55
AdamD wrote:
26 Apr 2021, 12:13
Bobbysbees wrote:
25 Apr 2021, 21:25
It seems that now your BE queen produces followers; :( I wonder if they started off OK as the bees were from a different queen? It takes a while for the queen's true behavior to appear - 3 weeks from first egg-laying as brood and then another 2-3 weeks or so before the bees mature to become guard bees as their organs develop?
That may be the case with that nuc. Though it was a late purchase toward the end of June and i pushed them hard with feed and patties to try and get them built up and balanced with my more mature hive. ( At the time I didn't have the confidence to believe I could give them brood from my other colony to "balance" the number) and for one reason or another they seemed to get hastled more by the wasps than my other hive did. Maybe cause they ended up sat on top of a spare super and the others where on a hive stand about twice as high to the entrance .
Once I get some of my own queens I am going to try requeening them and see how that goes. Its a shame cause they slammed a double brood out no problems and I even got a supper of honey off them before winterising the hive